Dirk Lehmann had a pretty miserable opening month to the season with Albion.

He was dropped from the starting line-up and banned by the FA from wearing his lucky earrings.

The high-jumping German also endured good natured taunts from his team-mates following England's astonishing victory in Munich.

Now the determined Deutschlander is aiming to put a blank August behind him after getting accustomed to Micky Adams' strict training regime.

And he still hasn't given up hope of his under-fire countrymen pipping Sven Goran Eriksson's men for that automatic World Cup qualifying place.

Lehmann must have feared things would not pan out quite as planned when the ref ordered him to remove the ring he wears in each ear before Albion's opening game at Cambridge United.

After three more matches without a goal, he was axed for the Bank Holiday obliteration of Blackpool at Withdean.

Lehmann, who made his debut in the first pre-season friendly at Worthing, found himself back at Woodside Road much sooner than he would have wished.

He was in good company in the reserves in their goalless home opener against Swindon last week, playing alongside the likes of fellow summer signings Geoff Pitcher and Robbie Pethick plus several regulars from last season's title winning squad.

Lehmann, bought on a Bosman free transfer from Edinburgh giants Hibernian, admits that Adams' training methods have come as a bit of a culture shock.

"It's really hard," he said. "I've been used to taking my foot off the pedal before games, but here we work hard and I've been tired at the weekend.

"I didn't look fresh because the pre-season was really hard for me, but I'm getting fitter and I feel much stronger and more used to the training. It will help me quite a lot in the long term.

"I didn't expect to lose my place, but that is what happens in football. I have to work my way back into the team now.

"Unfortunately I haven't scored yet and hopefully that will change soon. I am desperate to get my first goal."

Lehmann may have struggled to make his German mark on the pitch, but off it the former Fulham forward is already a popular member of the squad.

"I think we have a really good team spirit here," he said. "I live in a nice area in Haywards Heath with Steeley (Lee Steele) and Wicksy (Matt Wicks), so we travel together.

"I enjoy Brighton as well, especially when the sun is out. It's a nightmare for parking but really nice and not far from London, so I've settled quite well.

"I sometimes play tennis with Steeley and golf. I started playing when I went to Fulham and I was rubbish!

"I enjoyed it so much though, even when it was raining. If I hit three bad shots and one really nice one I was happy.

"I've managed to get my handicap down to 16 now, but I haven't had that much time to play, so I probably should be a little bit higher."

A feature of Lehmann, as well as those earrings, is his ability to jump high and hang in the air.

"I like boxing and I used to skip quite a lot," he explained. "I jumped off my left foot and I was really good at the long jump, but then I had an operation on my left ankle.

"I started to jump off my right foot and trained quite a lot so I can stay in the air a little bit."

It requires quite a leap in the imagination for Germany to finish above England following their Munich nightmare, but Lehmann hasn't totally given up hope.

He watched the match at home with his Northern Irish girlfriend, dumbfounded by the Owen-inspired 5-1 romp after his former Cologne colleague Carsten Jancker had opened the scoring.

Andy Crosby was the first Albion player on the phone to giggle at his expense.

"They were winding me up before and after the game, so it was a bit of a nightmare," Lehmann said.

"I think the game against Greece will be dangerous for England. The Greeks might play absolute rubbish, but on their day they are a really good side.

"The Germans still have a tough game against Finland, so the English have a little advantage now and Owen is on fire."

Maybe it won't be much longer before Lehmann lights up Albion.